


A non-exhaustive list of Batman cape functions

by Mitskirise



Series: Daily life of the bats [1]
Category: DCU
Genre: Batdad, Batfamily Feels, Bruce gives a lot of hugs, Cassandra Wayne is thinking about his batdad, Gen, Introspection, POV Cassandra, batdaughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 15:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18705211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitskirise/pseuds/Mitskirise
Summary: Why does Batman wear a cape? If you think about it —it’s a good question, you know?, Cassandra asked it and there were different answers.





	A non-exhaustive list of Batman cape functions

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Lista non esaustiva delle funzioni del mantello di Batman](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/478963) by mikirise. 



# A non-exhaustive list of Batman cape functions

 

Cassandra clings to Bruce. She hugs him and sighs softly, feeling a little bit better. And he closes his eyes. And this is home. Cassandra understands it immediately. _This_ is home.   
Why does Batman wear a cape? If you think about it —it’s a good question, you know?, Cassandra asked it and there were different answers.

Kate says a lot of Batman's work lies in guarding Gotham above the city's palaces and landing on the dark city’s streets. Because of the cape, Batman does not fall, he can decide the direction of his falls and he can land on the dark streets of Gotham without tripping. And this is important. It’s like -this could sound a little lame, but it is like Bruce, because of his, cape could fly.

Tim thinks she’s right. The first time he wore his Robin costume, he stretched his hand, theatrically moving his cape, and looked up at Bruce, screaming: _aerodynamics_! Then he started running all over the bat-cave, just to prove his point.

If you ask Julia (and Julia is Bruce’s twin, so she has to know something more about Bruce) the cape is a tribute to Zorro. And she is Diego de La Vega’s sister, Ines, so doesn’t have to wear a cape. Cassandra is not sure Ines de La Vega is a real character, but it doesn’t matter.

Dick says Bruce uses his cape because of the weather. Because, he says, when he was younger and they went to a place where it was snowing, where a strong wind was blowing, and Bruce stretched out his arm and covered Dick with his cape and Dick -he had cold no more.

There’s more, Cassandra knows it. There is so much more.

The night, Bruce —the night _their father_ saw his parents die, the detective Gordon had put a wool blanket on his shoulders. And Bruce was a little warmer for a few moments. When Alfred came to take him home, Bruce embraced him from above the blanket, and, for a few more moments, he had been enveloped in a different warm, by a hug that calmed him just a little bit. Alfred made him feel protected. 

And maybe Dick and Tim have not yet realized it, but Bruce extended this protection to all of them. To all of his kids. He is trying to make them, all of them, feel a little warm. Feel a little loved.

When they were young, Jason and Dick hid under the cape, for fun, or for fear. And even today Bruce uses the cape when they’re a danger. Because that night of many years ago, Martha Wayne extended her arm to hide him from a drunk man with a gun, to protect her son,  and so Batman, when Nightwing or Red Hood is in danger, extends his arm and his cape, making his children disappear behind him.

Duke and Tim grab on to the cape, they grab on to Bruce, when they don't feel safe on their legs, when their knees tremble and their minds wobble. So Bruce uses his cape to remind them of his presence. It makes noise. He lets it rustle, and when he enters the room as Batman, both Red Robin and The Signal relax their shoulders, as if they had the confidence that everything, from that moment on, will be okay.

But as Cassandra feels Bruce's hand stroking her hair, she knows _this_ is the best use for the cape.

When Bruce uses the cape to guard, when he creates this protected space, where there are no villains, nor even non-villains, but only them. When Cassandra may not be an orphan, or Batgirl, or Black Bat, but only herself, only Cass, and she can admit she is scared, or sad, or not strong enough.

And Bruce's his father. And she's his daughter.

And he can lie, in this space of theirs, he can tell her everything will be okay. And she can pretend to believe it, even for just a few minutes.  
  
She never had a space like that before.


End file.
